I am a CPA in Texas with an MBA from the University of Chicago. I have seen a lot and made many mistakes. Hopefully by now I will have learned something from them. Just as importantly, you may learn something from my mistakes. You can e-mail me by clicking on my "View my complete profile".

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Up the Ivy League

"Last year at about this time, David Brooks of the New York Times anticipated an enormous intellectual dividend for our country. After cataloging the Obama administration's numerous Ivy League JDs and PhDs, and with no mention of their real-world experience, he went on to write, "Already the culture of the Obama administration is coming into focus. Its members are twice as smart as the poor reporters who have to cover them, three times if you include the columnists.' While Mr. Brooks was pleased to finally see intellectual meat on the Washington bone, many others were dismayed to see this Ivory Tower culture reaching critical mass in our government. ... The country needs more than a narrowly focused intellectual dividend. Take away this administration's heap 'o seepskin and you have a group of people lacking the qualifications to do anything other than mouth obscure intentions and display self-esteem. Note that those are traits shared, according to a Scientific American article, by many inhabiting our country's finer penal institutions. ... The very fact, as the article stated, that degreed sociologists and psychologists had erroneously assumed that criminals have general low self-esteem is an indicator that the former depended heavily on pure speculation. The moat surrounding their intellectual castle was deep and wide. ... The contemporary American univeristy, academics' home turf, is the fountainhead of politically correct thought. PC has become like a physical constant, as is gravity. it is balanced into every academic discussion. ... The natural tendency of academics in government may be to transfer the modus operandi of their native institution to governance, leading them to insist rather than request, demand rather than serve, and scold rather than listen. Citizens may be seen as undergraduates, who when becoming too noisy and contrary can be threatened with demotions and fines", John Kelly at American Thinker, 3 February 2010, link: